Water quality of superficial sources used for human consumption in the West of Santa Catarina

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the water quality of protected and non protected
superficial sources of two municipalities in western Santa Catarina, Brazil, the most important swine production area in this state. Sixty-four sources from Arvoredo and 73 ones from Saudades were analyzed. The parameters considered in this study were total and fecal coliforms, nitrate, ammonia, orthophosphate and pH levels. It was
observed the occurrence of contamination for fecal coliforms deriving from animal dejections in 49,3% of the water sources from Saudades and 73,4% of those from Arvoredo. In 9,6% of the water sources from Arvoredo and 4,9% from Saudades, the levels of nitrate were above 10mg/L. Fourty-six percent of the sources from Arvoredo and 27% from Saudades presented high levels of orthophosphate. In protected sources, the alteration in the
parameters occurred in lower ratios, suggesting the difference in water quality between these two municipalities is due to the higher percentage of proteted sources (51% in Saudades compared to 27% in Arvoredo).